Ribbons and Badges
by fireprincessyunara
Summary: Pokemon Coordinator Akaine Minto and Pokemon Battler Mael Strom have an unexpected meeting which leads them teaming up and traveling the world together. In Hoenn the two will find that they will be doing more then collecting Ribbons and Badges. my first Co-write.
1. Chapter 1

Pokemon: Ribbons and Badges

Chapter one:

When the going gets good.

Akaine had finished packing all of her things into her backpack when her mother walked into her room, a lovely golden Ninetales following after her.

"Are you really leaving the region?" she asked.

"Yeah," Akaine replied.

"You'll be careful, won't you?"

Akaine slung her pack over her shoulder and looked over at her mother. She smiled reassuringly at her mom and nodded her head.

"Of course, besides I won't be alone, I have all my pokemon besides me," she said motioning to the dark red belt on her hips, and then the black sheets of her bed, where a large white furry ball was currently on top of.

Her mother smiled, though it wasn't the answer she had hoped for, she knew she trusted her daughter enough to let her go off and see the world. She realized though, that it will never be easy for her to say goodbye, no matter how many times she does it. Akaine saw the look in her mother's eyes and walked to her, embracing her mom for what may be the last time. Her elder sisters had already gone off to see the world, to be a part of something much bigger than the estate and the local contests and such. It was her turn now, and soon it will be Candy's turn as well.

"Mom, please don't worry, I'll be fine," Akaine said softly.

"I know you will," her mother breathed.

Akaine let go of her mom and walked past her out the bedroom door. "Come on Duchess!" she called.

The white fur ball on her bed shuddered, then unwound to become a shiny Ninetales. The fox pokemon hopped off of the queen sized bed and made her way to her trainer's side. Akaine smiled as she saw her beloved pokemon, she patted her head and then continued down the stairs. It wasn't long before she heard the sound of galloping paws coming down the hall towards her. Akaine turned around and opened her arms to embrace the large furry pokemon that came her way.

"Mira, I knew you'd hear me," she chuckled. "Ready to go?"

Mira barked happily in response. "That's my girl!" Akaine exclaimed as she took out her pokeball.

"Duchess, you're taking a break," she smiled as she sent her ninetales back to her pokeball.

As the two walked out of the house they were welcomed by the afternoon sun, the warmth of the day, and the cool breeze that came from the sea. Akaine knew that today was going to be a very good day. She looked at the very large Aracanine before her and smiled.

"Come on Mira, we don't want to miss our boat," she exclaimed as she climbed on top of Mira's back.

Mira howled in delight, and then ran off at full speed. Akaine was forced to hold onto Mira's mane tightly.

The horn of the large cruise ship blared, letting everyone know that it was about to take off, and that everyone should be getting on the loading ramps, or already be on board. The ship was leaving the Jhoto area, and was headed to Hoenn on its world tour. Everyone who could buy a ticket to take this cruise, not only to relax, but to see the many different kinds of water pokemon and regions that they wouldn't normally visit. The ship had also offered their services for cheap for the pokemon trainers, and though Akaine could have used that. There was no way she was going to spend her time in a place that was almost as bad the crew quarters, instead she had bought herself a ticket for one of the finest rooms they had.

"No no!" Akaine yelled. "Wait for us!" she and Mira had just arrived at the docks, in time to watch the ship leave. Not wanting her money to go to waste, or wait for another ship, she looked around for an easy way onto the ship.

"Mira! Run up the first ramp, let's try and get on that ship!" she called out, pointing to a loading ramp to the far right.

Mira barked pressing her paws into the ground, and pushing off into a sprint. Mira ran as fast as she could force Akaine to be pressed against the pokemon's back. It wasn't long until the trainer felt the lightlessness of being suspended in air, and she knew that Mira had taken a large jump.

"What is that?!"

"Is that a pokemon!?"

People gasped, some shrieked as they tried to move out of Mira's way, afraid that she would land on top of them or their possessions.

SPLASH!

Akaine and Mira had landed inside the outdoor pool on the ship. Mira crawled out of the pool and shook herself. When she finished she saw two men wearing uniforms walk towards her and Akaine, she shook again, and Akaine slid off of Mira and lay sprawled on the floor.

"Ma'am, you better have a ticket."

"It's…It's in my bag," Akaine muttered.

After she was set up in a beach chair one of the men who had come to her asked for her ticket, he was of course one of the employees and needed to scan her ticket to see if it was genuine. Akaine complied, digging into one of her pockets and pulling out a hard case. Opening it she reviled a new looking ticket. The man took his scanner and scanned the barcode, happy that he wouldn't have to throw Akaine off the boat or something.

"Ah, miss Minto, well, let's get you to your room," he smiled kindly at her.

"Thanks."

The door to her room opened and Akaine walked into the light blue room, decorated in the theme of the sea. There were two rooms, a bathroom, and a walk in closet. Akaine didn't think she would need the walk in closet, but was glad there was. She walked to the bedroom and threw her pokeballs up into the air.

"Alright gang, come on out!"

The balls opened and in a flash of light all of her pokemon were in the room.

"Now, you guys can pick a place to sleep for the night, no fighting, and no breaking things, and don't leave the room, I'm going to take a shower and change," she instructed then looked at Duchess. "You're in charge Duchess, make for sure they listen."

With that Akaine had walked to the closet to pull out something to wear and then rushed to the bathroom. This left her five pokemon alone in their suite. A Typhlosion, named Axel, had found a spot next to Mira. The two relaxed against the wall by the bed, and snuggled. A flareon (Flare) and Houndoom (Night) had made their way to the waiting room, where they decided the eggshell couch would be their bed. Duchess, as always, had taken her spot on the bed. It was not negotiable, and everyone knew it. The ninetales always sleeps next to Akaine, and she made for sure that, that never changed.

Akaine wrapped herself in one of the towels and walked to the large mirror, using her palm she did her best to get rid water that had collected on the mirror. She looked at herself, her red eyes seemed more red than usual, and she figured it was because of the chlorine in the pool. Long dark blue hair lay messily against her back and draped over her shoulder. With another sigh she quickly dressed into the white sun dress she had found in the closet. It was the complete opposite of her usual black and white pants, top, and black jacket. She hung her wet clothes on the shower curtain rail and sighed again as she put her favorite red and black scarf, next to her only bandanna, which was also red and black. Feeling more awkward then a magickarp out of water, she walked out into her bedroom, all her pokemon were resting, and she smiled at the site.

"I'll be back later, I'm just going to check things out, be good." She said, going to each one and planting a delicate kiss on their heads. She slipped on the matching sandals and was out of the suite, and making her way down the corridor. Turning at the end of the hall however she collided with someone.

"Watch where you're going!"

A pair of slightly aggravated yet not particularly hostile voices said in unison, one belonging to Akaine, and the other belonging to a boy. Both of which had been put on their bottoms by the impact. The boy was up first however, offering a hand to Akaine.

"Ah you, I recognize you. You're the one I 'dropped' in the pool aren't you? What were you thinking trying that jump on an Arcanine. What if you missed, your poor pokemon could've been really hurt fire-types don't do water remember?" The boy chastised

"I had full faith that she would make it, and if she didn't think she could, she would have let me know." She defended

"Faith isn't any reason to be reckless…"

The boy's body tensed for a moment, as though he had just been prodded in the spine by an electric spark. A lightning-bolt shaped tail would lean out from behind the boy, followed by the somewhat large dark yellow body of a Raichu.

"Fine, fine" He turned his attention back to Akaine "My name's Mael, Mael Strom. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time, but you should be a little less reckless. Anyway I was looking for you, Shockbox here thinks that Nightshade…er…my Gothorita should apologize to your Arcanine for dropping him in the pool instead of helping for a smoother landing…Is that alright with you?" He asked.

Akaine blinked, a bit shaken, but she managed a smile and nodded her head. "You don't really have to, Mira is a strange one, she loves the water, so to her it was a pleasant surprise," she laughed.

Mael seemed pleased that he wouldn't have to coax his pokemon into an apology; one which he knew wouldn't come easy. However, Shockbox was persistent, and he pushed him trainer closer to Akaine.

"Fine then, I'll try again," he whispered down at his Raichu. "Uh, even so, I would still like it if she said sorry," he pushed.

Akaine scratched the back of her head. "Well, alright, follow me," She said then walked back towards her room. "I'm sorry, I'm being rude, I'm Akaine Minto," she introduced.

Sliding the keycard in its slot to unlock the door to her room, she could hear the faint sounds of feet rushing around. She waited for the feet to stop moving for her to open the door. Everything was just the way she had left it, though Flare's and Duchess' irritation for each other had obviously heightened.

"Mira, someone is here to see you," she called. Akaine laughed as all her pokemon had come, curious as to who was here, and why. Mira had stepped forward, and Akaine hugged her. "this is Mael, he wanted to see you."

Mael stepped forward smiling proud to see all of her pokemon. He extended his hand gently to Mira, awaiting her to give him a sign that it was alright to move forward. Once she did however he would give her a quick pet.

"You're a contest trainer" His observant eye caught how well taken care of all her pokemon were, they all looked their best, his on the other hand looked much more rugged, it was clear that his pokemon were no strangers to sleeping outdoors or traveling. Not to say they looked bad at all, his were well taken care of and loved too.

He reached down to his belt and pulled out a poke ball, showing it to Mira before calling out the Gothorita within.

Nightshade looked around for a moment, first to Mael, smiling and walking over to him proudly before being intercepted by his Raichu. Who after a few moments seemed to quickly explain in no light terms that she needed to apologize to Mira. She lifted her head and looked to Akaine and then to Mira and the others in the room, her eyes narrowing as she looked back to Shockbox. He was unamused. The Gothita now with nowhere else to go reached into and dug around in Maels bag, coming up with a poffin. She'd quickly carry it over and offer it up to Mira.

The Arcanine stared for a moment, surprised at the scene that had just unfolded. She'd look to her master, and upon receiving an approving nod from her she'd lean down and eat up the pokemon-food pastry. Her tail swaying as she enjoyed its taste.

"Looks like she likes it, heh, maybe I should start selling these." Mael said apparently proud of his cooking. Gothorita however made a noise, a bit between a scoff and a laugh before returning to Mael's side and smacking her own poke ball recalling herself.

"Sorry, shes a bit of a prima-donna. She doesn't mean anything mean by it though" He explained. "Anyway, keep out of trouble, We'll probably see you around later, enjoy your cruise"

And with that , he left. Disappearing off to another part of the ship along with his Raichu companion.

Akaine waved goodbye, she was amazed that he had made something that Mira liked, though she wasn't always a picky eater. Pastries though were the last things she'd like to eat. Akaine knelt down next to Mira and patted her neck affectionately.

"Strange day huh?" she asked, with a light pat she turned to the couch. Upon sitting down Flare had taken a spot on Akaine's lap, and soon everyone found their place near her. In an hour or so she had fallen asleep, head resting on one of her beloved pokemon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Slateport city

When the ship stopped there was a wave of people getting off. Akaine was pushed and shoved into people in front of her. She probably had this one coming; she should have waited for everyone to get off before she even attempted to get off the ship.

"Shoving isn't going to make anyone go any faster!" she yelled, frowning deeply as she was shoved for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past fifteen minutes. She was given another rough shove, and she let out another sigh.

"Good thing my pokemon are safe and sound," she whispered, pulling her backpack closer to her. She never just let her pokeballs lay in the open, especially when getting into crowds. How easy would it be for someone to take her pokemon.

While she was lost in her thoughts however a hand reached through the crowd, taking Akaine by the collar and scarf and tugging her sharply. She had thought at first it was just the rude pushing and shoving of the crowd however it was now very apparent that whomever it was pulling at her was not a part of them.

She began to panic a bit, though she wouldn't show it. She began to wonder what to do, should she scream? The person might flee and leave her alone but what if she was just over-reacting. She could also call one of her pokemon, they wouldn't allow her to come to any harm. However just as she was thinking over her options a familiar tuft of silver hair and a somewhat friendly smile greeted her just outside the crowd of people ushering off the ship.

"Hey" Mael greeted "You looked like you were having a rough time of it. You might wanna just give it a few minutes till the heard thins, you'd probably have an easier time navigating a Tauros stampede. First time traveling by ship?"

Akaine stared at him for a moment, trying to process all that he had just said combined with the shock of being yanked out of crowd. She nodded slightly.

A while later, once the crowd had thinned and they were capable of moving off the ship without being subject to the flow of every passer-by. The two youth's eventually made it off the ship.

"You guessed what I'm doing before, what is it you're traveling over?" Akaine managed to ask, as they proceeded along into the port-town.

"You saw I'm a trainer too, I'm collecting badges, decided to start here first and work my way all around the world before I become a 'hometown hero'" Mael explained himself.

Akaine nodded her head and smiled. "Sounds like a cool plan, I had already collected the badges of my hometown, it didn't really do it for me, then I took on a small contest that was going on after I got my forth badge, and man, it was perfect, having yourself and your pokemon judged among many others," Akaine shivered. "It was exhilarating."

Mael shrugged, again, he was never fond of contests. "So you just quit on the pokemon league?" he asked.

Akaine thought about it for a moment, "Not really, I always finish what I started."

There was an awekward silence between them, and it only got longer as they started thinking of something to say to end it. Mael looked up as they were greeted by a familiar voice. Nurse Joy was smiling at them from the counter of the pokemon center.

"Looks like we walked into a pokemon center," Mael pointed out.

"Maybe they have a map," Akaine said.

"It would be kind of stupid if this town didn't have a current map of the region," Mael shrugged.

"Welcome to Slateport city's pokemon center, how can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Uh, we were just wondering if you have a current map of the region," Akaine replied.

"Oh, yes, here is our last one," Joy smiled as she handed Akaine the map.

"Thank you," she smiled, then looked at Mael, "well, talk about lucky."

"Lucky?" Mael started. "You took the last map, now I'll have to wait for them to get more.

"You know, you could ask to use it, it's not like we'll be headed off right away, there's a contest here, and I plan on entering."

"Oh! If you're entering, then I should warn you, this year they are doing tag team contests, but it shouldn't be any trouble, it seems your brother would be a fine partner."

"Tag team contests? You mean I'm going to need a partner? I cant enter alone with just two of my pokemon?" Akaine asked looking a bit surprised that she hadn't heard of this before she got there, what bad luck.

"Well, no the point of tag-team is to show how you work with someone else, if you were alone it'd just ruin the whole point" Joy replied "But your brother seems capable enough to assist you I'm sure you'll do great" She said

Mael, who had been staring over the map now had a bit of an agitated look on his face, there was no way he could navigate an unknown area without a map. And to make matters worse Slateport didn't have a gym, he was stuck.

"There's not even a gym here?" He spoke up finally

"No" Joy replied

"You're telling me I have to sit around and wait for you to get your ribbon?" Mael's attention turned to Akaine now

"It wont be very long and…"

Akaine smiled, her face lighting up with excitement and a bit of a devious look. Bidding the nurse farewell and grabbing Mael by the hand, more than aware of his conundrum involving the map and herself, she had an idea.

Once outside she stood before him, making him stand up straight and looking straight ahead at him, a few moments later and after some appraising hums she nodded.

"I suppose you'll do, now lets see your pokemon" She demanded

"What?"

"Your pokemon, I'll need to have a look at them before we begin"

"Again what are you talking about?"

"Ugh, Nurse Joy said the contest is team based this year" Akaine began her explanation "I cant enter alone, I need your help, You also need a map to travel around here too, so since we both seem to need each other we might as well travel together" She finished, giving a 'matter of fact' nod.

Mael however stared, he wanted to argue or find some flaw with her plan, more than anything he just didn't want to be caught dead entering into a pokemon contest. It was embarrassing. He considered just walking away and starting along the path out of town, but he didn't like the idea of being lost and alone in a strange place. He nodded in agreement with her, his hand searching the side of his belt as he plucked the miniature spheres from their settings, one by one they enlarged and he called out the creature resting within.

Shockbox the Raichu, Nightshade his Gothorita, Nitemare the Houndour, Nova the Quilava, Watt the Jolteon, and Kafei the Zorua. One by one they emerged from their capsules, and he introduced each by name. Instructing them all to line up in front of him he would look to Akaine for her input.

"I had a feeling you had amazing pokemon, Nightshade had that flare to her that just screamed contest winner," she looked each one over, her smile widening as she had approved each one. "This is good, this is really good, we can make this work!"

Nightshade crossed her arms and smiled proudly, she did love to show off. Mael still wasn't happy about his current situation, and it showed on his face.

"Alright," Akaine stated, standing up straight and clapping her hands. "Pick a pokemon, and depending on your choice, I'll be the partner pokemon that will better our chances."

"You…you really left me no choice, inflating her ego like that," Mael muttered "I'll pick Nightshade," he sighed, feeling the pokemon's harsh glare on him.

Akaine managed to stifle a laugh as she pulled out her pokeballs. "Normally I would use Duchess, but she has a very stronger personality, and two strong personalities don't normally mix well, like Falre and Duchess, they never seem to get along."

Akaine released Night and Axel. The houndoom and typhlosion sat on either side of Akaine each wearing a serious look on their face. "I think Night would fit her perfectly, don't you think so?" she asked looking down at her Houndoom.

Night looked up at her with an 'of course' look in his eyes.

"Then it's settled, your nightshade, and my night, let's get started."

Akaine put Axel back in his ball, as Night lowered his head in a slight bow to Nightshade. His tail curled around his front paws as he studied his new partner.

Nightshade looked on at Night performing a curtsey to respond to the bow, she kind of liked this Houndoom, he knew how she deserved to be treated, or at least how she felt she did.

"Well, they're getting along pretty well it seems, maybe this wont be so bad" Mael chimed in, seeing how much Nightshade appeared to be enjoying the idea of all eyes being on her. "So what exactly are we supposed to do in a contest anyway, you're the 'pro' I'll just follow your lead"

Nightshade's attention suddenly turned on Mael however, causing Night to perk up and watch whatever was about to happen.

The gothorita glared daggers at Mael, apparently not having liked the idea of her having to take orders from someone else. She made a motion as though she were stomping her foot, in rage. In their younger days she may have decided to use her psychic skills on him in order to get just how annoyed she was across but she knew better than to do that now, especially with all the other pokemon and another trainer nearby.

"Don't worry, Nightshade, I'm sure she's very capable, with her help you're gonna win your first ribbon and…" Mael hesitated for a moment, not particularly fond of the idea that he was about to put forward "…if we win enough we might even become famous as…contest champions" He said the last bit with a distasteful tone.

Akaine chuckled at the site of Nightshade, it was offly cute. "Well, a contest is normally made up of two rounds, one where we just show off, and the other where we battle the other contestants, it's not just enough to look good, you have to look good, be strong, and have a lot of concentration." Akaine paused for a bit. "Take night, he doesn't look like he would win, mostly because not many people would call him cute, but adding a little flare to his attacks."

Night, listening to everything that was said, had moved farther away from the group, he stood poised, with his head held tall, waiting for an order to be made. Nightshade, having calmed down, looked upon her partner with mild interest.

"Night, use Ember!" Akaine called out.

Night moved a paw back as he sent out a barrage of small flames; each one had seemed to dance as it spun around in front of Night, and then delicately dissipated.

"Great job Night," she praised. "The judges will be giving us points biased on how beautiful the attacks will look, the second round, where we fight other coordinators will be harder, and not only will the attack have to look beautiful, but it will also have to deal damage on our opponent. If we use an opponent's attack to our advantage it'll look really good," she stopped talking for a moment, hoping that she hadn't lost them.

Mael nodded his head, though he was completely disinterested in it, the chance at a battle in a town with no gym seemed to be the only appealing thing he had to look forward to.

"So, Nightshade would have to make her attacks look pretty, and then we get to have a battle with other trainers, got it."

"It's not all that easy!" Akaine snapped. "If we get kicked off in the first round….there won't be any battle."

"Okay okay, I get it," Mael said waving his hand at her dismissingly.

This had irritated the red eyed woman to a large degree, if he made her lose her first contest here, she'll make him regret it. Akaine took in a deep breath and continued. "Appearance, it all comes down to appearance, so, let's try an attack that would work well with both of them, I'll have Night use ember again, and Nightshade can add anything she wants that may make the move look amazing."

"I heard you the first few times about the appearance stuff, its style over functionality kinda the opposite of normal battling," Mael commented giving Akaine a nod indicating he was ready for their 'practice' run.

As annoyed as she was she had no other choice but to trust in him. It didn't make it any easier to take the idea that he wasn't going to take things seriously, she wasn't about to lose out so early on, it would be embarrassing.

"Night, use Ember!" She repeated

Night once again 'barked' up the dancing flames

"Alright Nightshade, Mirror Coat" Mael said in a somewhat bored voice

Nightshade stepped forward into the path of the embers, however after a brief second her eyes glowed briefly before her body shimmered. She would perform a pirouette coming into contact with several of the embers, causing them to disperse in shimmers of red and orange as they reflected off her body. She had a bit of her triumphant look in her eye as she and Night finished.

"That good enough for you? Or should it be 'prettier'" Mael asked

"That's really good, and it brings everyone's attention to Nightshade," she turned to Mael then twisted to see the sellout of the contest building. "You wouldn't happen to have a contest pass would you?" she asked.

Mael gave her a skeptical look before responding. "Why on earth would I get a contest pass?" he asked.

"Benefit of the doubt, well, we better go see where we can get one for you," she sighed.

"If you have an extra one I can use that right?" he asked, not wanting to go through any unnecessary trouble.

"A contest pass is like an ID card, it has all your info, including your picture, so no I don't have an extra one, well I do, but it's mine, and it's just in case I lose or brake my current one," Akaine explained.

"We can't do anything until we get a pass, so come on," she said pulling on his arm and dragging him into the large red building.

Mael protested, not for himself, but for Akaine's sake. Nightshade seemed to have turned red in anger as she watched her trainer be dragged off with that strange woman. Night seemed to have noticed, and lightly nudged her with his nose, he bent his head down, offering her a ride. Nightshade took hold of his horns and climbed up onto Night's head, sliding down to his neck where she rested.

Night followed his trainer and at the same time attempting to convince his new partner that there was nothing to be angry about. Night had some experience dealing with pokemon like Nightshade, Flare for one, was very much like this dark pokemon currently riding on his back. She was egotistic, and easily upset, the only difference was that Flare got mad when other pokemon got close to him.

When they caught up with their trainers, Akaine was close to bashing her head in, the contest that she needed to be in was in a different town, right where they needed to get Mael his contest pass. The white haired boy laughed, enjoying Akaine's misery.

"Don't think you're getting out of this that easily!" she hissed. "While we are traveling to that town, we will be practicing for the contest."

"Yeah, yeah alright, as long as it doesn't interfere with my normal catching and battling practices I guess I shouldn't mind too much," Mael replied, staring at her for a moment "Well, you're the one with the map, if we're setting off to get somewhere else…hopefully somewhere with a Gym, then I think we should get moving"

"Don't be in such a rush" Akaine said, still a bit annoyed at his nonchalant attitude toward the contests that she was going to be putting her all into. She however didn't have any argument besides that, it was probably best to get going. "We should go and buy supplies first"

"Supplies?" Mael asked

"Potions, food…things of that sort, we wouldn't want to get overwhelmed while we're traveling. It's going to be a long way back to a pokemon center"

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go then, I'd like to be half way to the next town before it gets dark at least" Mael turned and began walking back toward the slate port Poke'mart.

Akaine was the first to enter, she immediately went to choosing out the things she would need for her pokemon, while Mael wandered about, picking up potions, cures, and ropes. He wondered just how similar the landscape was here to his home of Unova.

Once they were both done with their shopping, they bought their supplies up to the counter, both managing to finish at the same time. The clerk began going over their items, every so often looking up at them.

"Is there something wrong?" Akaine spoke up.

"N-no, I'm sorry if I was being rude" The young woman behind the counter said straightening out her apron and continuing to count up their items.

"Well, what is it then?" Mael chimed in this time

"It's just…it's not that often that we actually get twins traveling together through here" She explained

"Er…we're no-"  
"Do twins get a discount?" Akaine asked, cutting off Mael

"I'll see if there's any sales going on that you two might be able to take advantage of" The clerk commented

Mael gave Akaine a questioning look before shaking his head slightly and shrugging it off. Akaine didn't speak until the clerk was out of ear shot, gone to check on what she could do for the two.

"I may not look like it, but I do like to save money," she said crossing her arms.

"Ah, says the girl who travels in first class," he replied teasingly.

The cashier returned with a bright smile on her face. She tapped into the register and turned her attention to Mael and Akaine.

"It just so happens that a good portion of your items are on sale, so all together, that comes up to one thousand pokedollars."

"Thank you for taking the time to look," Mael said with a soft smile.

The cashier blushed, as she took Akaine's money. "Have a nice day," she squeaked.

When they were outside Akaine had put some of the items into her bag, handing the rest to Mael.

"Was that necessary?" she asked.

"Almost as necessary as telling her we were twins," he smirked.

"I didn't say we were, I just asked if twins got discounts, nothing wrong about that."

"You sure didn't correct her"

"I didn't have any reason to, she had already gone to check things, and it would've been rude if we implied that we deceived her by that point"

"Whatever you say, rich-girl, I'm not here to judge you" Mael's smirk hadn't faded one bit

"Let's just get going" Akaine said slowly becoming more and more annoyed with her traveling companion and stomping off along the path out of the port-town, her new partner and companion in tow.


End file.
